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The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

rigsomelight.com

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Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#301
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought right around the peak of the bubble in early 2006. Even with prices being what they were at the time, my mortgage wasn't much higher than rent was for comparable homes in my neighborhood. After having a couple of roommates move in I was paying very little to live. I sold the house early last year and actually made a small profit after doing a few renovations. I know my experience may not be typical but if yo…

I wonder how much your second job as a landlord (`headaches ouf owning a home') actually paid per hour.

Considering on a given month I was making 700 dollars while doing almost nothing I'd say I had a pretty good hourly rate!

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#302

I like geodesics but I don't think they are any more practical than a Yurt. This link is written by somebody with quite a lot of experience with domes. http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/domebuilders_blues.html

This is a great post! it seems a lot of the shortcomings he points out stem from ALL goods and services available to home-owners being planned around square housing of standardized measurements. Besides that, there are some inherently 'different' aspects of a dome (acoustics, floor arrangement, extra length requirements in wiring & wall surface jointing, unusual structural stresses) that are both interesting, and probably hard to realize without having lived in and worked on one of these things.

Thanks for sharing this.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#303
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, you're absolutely correct on this one! I do drive to Denver (3 hours there) a couple times a month, though, and I work at my company's HQ while visiting/staying with friends, etc.

I started reading your blog because I love stuff like this. The cabin looks cool. Do you live in an area with building codes? I live out in the country and have a bunch of building projects that I never seem to get to. I need to see stuff like this to get me off my ass :-)

Thanks!

Yes, there are building codes (which I meet). Colorado actually has some sheisty codes compared to Chicago (where I'm from), so in many places I went overboard, which I think is OK. It's still a bit like the Wild West out here!

For me, getting down to the cabin full-time was the hardest part. 4 years of trying to build a small cabin and building myself up professionally took its toll on what I _wanted_ to accomplish with this project.

So, now the house design and CAD consumes my evenings - I want to be able to document it like the dome chap!

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#304
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does this `obviously' apply more to houses than to apartments? Sorry, I am not from the USA, so I don't know the peculiarities of your peculiar housing market. Couldn't you just negotiate a rental agreement that gives you more protection?

He means that the owner is more likely to sell a single-family home than an entire apartment block. If the apartment does sell, it is 99.99% more likely that the buyer will want to keep the tenants in place. As for negotiating a better rental agreement? Why would the landlord give you more protection? He has nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing so. The reality is that if you're a good tenant (don't trash t…

> As for negotiating a better rental agreement? Why would the landlord give you more protection?

That's why it's called a negotiation. You have to give the landlord something they want in return. E.g. slightly more rent is the most obvious choice.

As for a sale: Just negotiate in your rental agreement that the new owner is bound by the same terms as the old one.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#305
I just want to highlight what's important about this design:

IT'S FRAMELESS

This drastically brings down the costs.

There are still disadvantages, of course -- the inflexible shape and lack of large, flat, vertical surfaces is a problem for most applications -- but the dome is now so much cheaper that, in some niches, they're worth a second look. I can well imagine, for instance, mass-produced geodesic haybarns based on this design.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#306

The reason geodesic homes didn't make it out of the 70s (except at Burning Man and radar installations) is that you can't build a structure more prone to leaking in the rain or even a heavy dew. Solve that problem and domes become a meaningful option. Otherwise they're a mental exercise.

Shingling.

And if you check the post carefully, you'll see that it is carefully designed so the pieces overlap like shingles.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#307
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much your second job as a landlord (`headaches ouf owning a home') actually paid per hour.

Considering on a given month I was making 700 dollars while doing almost nothing I'd say I had a pretty good hourly rate!

Thanks. I just want to try to get an apples-to-apples comparison.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#308

As an architect, I appreciate many of the ideas expressed via the design - in particular seeking a reduced footprint. However, while many US jurisdictions might not require a building permit for this structure due to its size, it would typically not be exempt from building codes and as a habitable structure and more importantly as a dwelling, the design does not meet fundamental principles embodied in modern building…

I live in Florida, and my first thought was "hell no." Imagine the damage it would do when the first hurricane sends it flying through the air.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#309

it would be nice if you could carry this in your pocket and you add water to the tiny pocket sized cylinder labelled "Capsule Corp." and yell "HOY POY" and it will spring to life, complete with furnitures, your computer and everything.

Arthur Weasley had something a lot like that ...

guess nobody got the Dragonball reference. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#310
post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I disagree with its premises (which makes me a devil's advocate, I suppose,) the response to something like Comcast is that the government is involved in setting up ISP monopolies/duopolies.

Just like government setup Standard Oil? Government is involved in regulating Comcast, for sure. But as far as I can tell the issues that make telecommunications hard for new entrants has more to do with the sheer cost of building-out a suitable network than any amount of government regulation.

No, usually the local government actually grants a literal monopoly to a single telecom for a period of time. Their justification is that the telecom is making a big investment in building infrastructure, and there's no way a company would take that risk without some assurances of profit.
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